Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch looks to win fourth straight Nationwide race at Texas Motor Speedway
Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch leads the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings heading into this weekend's race at Texas Motor Speedway.
// Tim Parks, NASCAR Scene
Kyle Busch has been nearly perfect this year in pursuit of the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship. But with Joe Gibbs Racing at Texas Motor Speedway, he has been perfect.
Busch has driven three Nationwide races in JGR’s No. 18 Toyota, and he has won all three.
“We’re going to Texas trying to get four in a row and looking forward to that, seeing if we can achieve that feat,” Busch said. “We know it’s going to be tough.”
A victory would also push Busch closer to the Nationwide championship. He’s 215 points ahead of second-place Carl Edwards, and while Busch can’t clinch at Texas, he can the following week at Phoenix.
“Missing out on the Chase [For The Sprint Cup] earlier this year, we felt unfortunate we weren’t able to capitalize on getting a championship there,” Busch said. “The Nationwide Series, we felt really good about. Going in with [crew chief] Jason Ratcliff and all the guys on the 18 [Nationwide] team, we’re really looking forward to these last three races. We feel like we’ve got a good chance at winning that championship.
“We really run well at Texas. I like going to Phoenix since it’s out on the West Coast. It’s always fun out there. Last year, we ran second to our archrival Carl at Homestead. We feel really good about these last three races. It should be fun. Any championship in NASCAR is a big thing, and for me, it would be my first championship, period.”
Busch has clearly enjoyed a championship-caliber season, with seven wins, 23 top-fives and 27 top-10s in 32 starts. A victory at Texas for Busch would also tie him for most victories with Kevin Harvick, who earned his fourth win there in 2007 for Richard Childress Racing.
“I think the biggest improvement we’ve made on the Nationwide Series has been the consistency,” Busch said. “I’ve finished in the top three [in 16] of the last [20] races. I’ve set a new record this year for the most second-place finishes of 11.
“Last year, I tied the record for the most wins in a year with 10. We’d like to win a few more races this year and try to see if we can’t also tie the record again this year with 10 wins. We’ve got seven now, and we’ve got a chance to get three more. If we can do that, that’ll solidify our championship and what all we’ve done this year in being really consistent.”
Race: O’Reilly Challenge
Track: Texas Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile quad-oval
Distance: 200 laps, 300 miles
Favorites: Kevin Harvick, who leads with four victories at Texas. Kyle Busch, who has won the last three Texas races. David Ragan, who has four top-10s in the last five races in Texas. Jeff Burton, who has finished in the top 10 all 13 times he’s raced at Texas.
Points battle: Kyle Busch can’t clinch at Texas, but he can all but wrap up the title this weekend. He leads by 215 over Carl Edwards. Justin Allgaier has a hold on fifth, but Mike Bliss is 59 points out. Michael Annett broke into the top 10 after Memphis, but Michael McDowell is 11th, 13 points out of 10th; Tony Raines is 12th, 62 points from 10th and Kenny Wallace is 13th, 65 points behind Annett.
Notes of interest: James Buescher makes his first start for Phoenix Racing, the team for which he’ll drive full time in 2010. … Doug Hewitt will serve as Joey Logano’s crew chief, replacing Dave Rogers, who moved to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sprint Cup team. … Eric McClure, who slammed the wall two weeks ago at Memphis, is OK and will return to the No. 24 Ford this weekend. … Brian Vickers is making his final appearance in Braun Racing’s No. 32 Toyota this season. … Jason Leffler and Kasey Kahne will drive Braun Toyotas with Great Clips sponsorship. … Kevin Harvick leads with four victories at Texas in the series. … Roush Fenway Racing crew chiefs Mike Kelley and Dan Stillman begin their tenures with new teams, Kelley with Carl Edwards’ No. 60 and Stillman with David Ragan’s No. 6.
Quotable: “The thing we need to do at Texas is to go there and beat that No. 18 car [of Kyle Busch]. That’s what we’re doing right now. We’ve got the guns loaded, trying to go gain points.” – Carl Edwards.
